Valentin Gischig

Biographical Summary

Valentin Gischig joined the SCCER-SoE team in September 2014 as a Senior Researcher. Previously, he spend one year at UBC Vancouver, Canada, as a Postdoctoral researcher with a focus on problems related to earthquake-triggered landslides and hydraulic fracturing modelling. Between 2011 and 2013, he worked at the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zürich, and was involved in the development of forecasting tools for induced seismic hazard assessment during deep reservoir stimulations. In 2011, Valentin received a PhD from ETH Zürich for his work on rock mechanics of an Alpine rock slope instability. He studied geophysics and glaciology at ETH Zürich and graduated with a Diploma (MSc) thesis on active and passive seismic observations on glacier ice.

SCCER-SoE Responsibilities

Valentin Gischig is part of the Geo-energy team working on experiments and modelling aimed at understanding the behaviour of deep Engineered Geothermal Systems. His main interests are quantifying permeability development for different stimulation mechanisms, reservoir properties optimal for heat exchange, and stimulation strategies capable of limiting induced seismic hazard. Valentin is involved in planning in-situ instrumentation and experiments, in which various injection scenarios are tested and comprehensively monitored. He attempts to use high-end numerical modelling tools to understand observed reservoir behaviour in experiments and to derive procedures that lead to an optimal balance between induced seismic hazard and permeability enhancement.